I was on my way to catch the bus for the 10.30 mass at the Cathedral when I heard the bells peal for the 10 o’clock service at the small old church of Sant Pere Claver (or in Spanish San Pedro Claver). It sits on a plaza surrounded by the high rise condos and next to a sprawling shopping center. Porto Pi is the old harbor section on the west side of Palma. My hosts have their apartment on top of the steep hill overlooking the port. Today is the feast of the Epiphany. The Three Kings arrive by boat and children put their shoes, filled with beans, on the window sill or balcony, before going to bed and the next morning they find small gifts in their shoes. Very similar to the Saint Nicholas tradition in the Netherlands.
The gospel was on the very first part of Saint John’s Gospel: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Just like at the small church of San Vicente on Ibiza religious recorded music was played before mass and during communion. One of the pieces played was Gabriel Fauré’s “Cantique de Jean Racine”. We sang this as part of last May 4th concert in Amsterdam.
I have only 3 more days left here on Mallorca. I’ll miss these islands and the friendships made here.
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- A shipmodel in the church of the traditional Lateen rigged fishing boats
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- Padre Miguel Garau of Sant Pere Claver
Hallo Jack,
Het doet ons goed te lezen dat je, ondanks wat je is overkomen, een geweldige tijd in Spanje hebt weten te creeeren. Het ontbreekt je zeker niet aan veerkracht.
We willen je (op de valreep, het mag nog net) een heel goed 2014 wensen en een goede reis naar Nederland.
We gaan elkaar vast ontmoeten. Tot dan.
Lieve groeten,
Thea en Ton.
Dank je wel en ook aan jullie de allerbeste wensen vorr dit nieuwe jaar, En tot spoedig weerziens.
Browsing through my facebook page I came across an article by Lin and Larry Pardey that led me to your blog. I’m awefully sorry to hear about your boat. I know the Pardey’s boat is finally for sale, (it’s way out of my price range for a teacher), but if you have a chance to look on yachtworld dot com, check out the little Bristol Channel cutter in LaPaz, Mexico for pennies. That’s about my speed. Hope all is well with you there. Robert Hall from very chilly Wyoming, USA
I checked the listing. Yes, sounds like it would be a great substitute. One problem, is the location. I’d like to find something with which I can pick up my nearly finished circumnavigation, East side of the Panama Canal. I’ll be starting to look seriously when I’m done writing the book till the shipwreck and after my visit to the N.W. in May. Just out of curiosity where would I find the link you mention to the Pardey article?